Daysan Harm
Daysan Harm Early Life Harm was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1918 to Julianne and Walter Harm after being conceived before his father's deployment to France during America's involvement in the First World War. Growing up, Harm's family struggled with finances and thus Daysan was unable to receive a proper education; however his mother taught him all she could when he was of grade school age. High school was Daysan's first experience with formal schooling, and it was where he was introduced to the philosophies of men like Thomas Jefferson and John Locke and he soon became enamored in the uniquely American concept of freedom and liberty. From here, he began to get involved in local government, when at the age of 15 Harm led a group of students to discuss financial problems among the community with the mayor of Oklahoma City. In junior year of high school, Daysan met Joseph Boyd in biology class and the two developed a fast friendship, both boys bonded over their patriotism and desires for starting their own businesses. Upon graduation, both Harm and Boyd went to continue their education at the University of Kansas until 1942. Military Career Effect of the Pearl Harbor Attack After the Events of December 7th, 1941 both Harm and Boyd agreed to put their ambitions in college aside and join the military. After some deliberation, both men agreed on the United States Marine Corps and enlisted together in January of 1942 and were quickly readied for combat. Harm wrote in his autobiography ''Daysan Harm: A Journey ''that: "The attacks on Hawaii resonated with me as a young adult. Joseph saw it as a reason to express our love of country, and rightly so... but I, I saw it as another example of Roosevelt's weak, appeasement obsessed foreign policy biting us in the ass." Daysan Harm: A Journey / Page 181 Battle of Okinawa Harm and Boyd fought across the Pacific, but the pair's most notable action was during the Battle of Okinawa. The two found themselves fighting on Kiyan Peninsula, which so happened to be the location of the largest loss of life during the entire battle. On a moonless night of June 1st, 1945 Boyd and Harm were sitting in a foxhole on the Peninsula when a Japanese banzai charge caught the Marines off guard and a firefight insured. At some point, a hand grenade was lobbed into Boyd and Harm's foxhole, Boyd grabbed the grenade and tossed it toward the Japanese attackers, and was shot twice in the process. After tending to his wounded friend, Harm continued the fight, where he himself was shot in the shoulder by a Japanese officer wielding a handgun, Harm was taken off the island later that week and was awarded a Purple Heart. "I never forgot what Joseph did for me that damn night, if he hadn't seen that Jap grenade we wouldn't have left that island alive... I always felt as if I owed him a debt that I couldn't repay... not in a way that made sense, that is." Daysan Harm: A Journey / Page 220 Discharge After recovering from his injury at a medical facility on the island of Guam, Harm was sent back home, where he quickly reconnected with Boyd and several of his other friends from the Marine Corps.